I know that sounded like a snarky answer, but it is what I believe. That, of course, is not the answer you would get from those not giving him credit. You would get answers like, he actually started a third war with a Muslim country. He was a follower, not a leader. He took too long. He acted too quickly. He didn’t get Congressional approval.

All of those are lame, and easily countered. But, what it comes down to is that, in the Media and in the RW and PL worlds, there is nothing that he can do that he will be given credit for.

The important thing is that the vast majority of the country lies outside of those worlds.

Quick side note. Someone linked to an article in the Daily Mail yesterday which, on the whole was a fairly good article. But they showed a picture purported to be of 23 coffins of innocent civilians killed by air raids. However, I did see a report on that event, and it turned out that during the “display” of the atrocity, one of the coffins tipped over and it was empty. In all likelihood, all of them were empty. No mention of that fact.

It appears any kind of integrity – journalistic, political, economic, or just plain HUMAN integrity is very scarce these days. Obama has it in every fiber of his being and the corrupt want to diminish him in every way. He is always questioned and rarely praised even though he is probably going to turn out to be one of our greatest presidents. You do realize that this is one of the few remaining sites that still supports him almost unconditionally……

I have come to the conclusion that for a lot of these people there is big money to be made for being against President Obama. Just ask all of the politicians suckling after the Koch teat! What’s really disgusting is the (un)professional left has found they can make some money too ***cough***Anthony Weiner***cough***. It’s a business decision. They castigate the president with their hands held out for a donation.

For the MSM and online rags like Huff’nPuff and Daily Caustic, creating a meme against the president where there isn’t one brings in the Obama-hating viewers and clicks = $$$. Fortunately, for those of us who are sane and who appreciate our president, we stopped watching that idiot tripe a long time ago and switched to sensible blogs like BWD’s.

PS: Only listen to the POTUS speech, and then switch to that show “THE EVENT”! It is what I do, because the pundits already have their negative script written! They are so predictable!
For ex: How many of you have watched the POTUS speak, and then listen to the pundits, it is like I watched to different speeches?

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Break Ground on “Green” Aquatic Conservation and Education Center
3/14/2011

Mammoth Springs, AK- Mammoth Spring National Fish Hatchery, in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, will soon be home to one of the most energy efficient buildings ever built by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Okay, time for a little rant from me. My first mistake today on the drive to work was switching from ESPN and listening to a discussion of what has been an amazing NCAA basketbakll tournament to the Bill Press Show.

He was interviewing the reverned Jim Wallace, a progressive evangelical who I really like. They were discussing the immorality of the Republican budget cuts. So far so good. But then Press had to ask about the “intervention or should we say war” in Libya. Wallace is against it, and I have no major beef with that. One of his complaints was how the money spent in Libya is probably going to be more than some of the budget cuts. Okay, I can even understand that argument to a degree.

Then he went on to talk about how easy decisions are made to go to war, without putting any thought into it. Obviously he isn’t one of those who believe Obama was “dithering”. WE have witnessed in this episode an example of true thoughtfulness both in terms of the decision to intervene, how to intervene and what the terms of the interevention is to be.

Okay, I was starting to fume, not a good thing when driving on the expressways around Chicago during rush hour.

But then he went on to talk about how, apparently, Libya won the intervention lottery. Started talking about Darfur and how we didn’t chose to interfere there. Of course, he didn’t mention that Darfur was prior to Obama, nor did he mention that the recent elections and cease fire in the Sudan were laergely brought about by Obama’s influence. Secondly, the fact is that we can’t intervene everywhere in the world, although it would be nice if we could.

Libya happens to be a perfect set of conditions. It comes at a time where people in the ME are seeking democracy and a voice in their lives. It was a case where a not very well liked individual started slaughtering peaceful protestors. And perhaps most importantly, logistically, we could intervene in a meaningful way with a limited, no boots on the ground, manner, with, so far, minimal civilian casualities.

That could not have been done in Darfur, could not be done in Iran or North Korea.

Sure, it is hard to see what is happening elsewhere in the world. But if we are goinjg to intervene somewhere it needs to be under the following conditions:
1. Our intervention can actually have a chance of being effective.
2. It requires minimal investment in terms of combat troops being involved.
3. It is able to have an actual definition, including the ending of that intervention.
4. It won’t result in a deepening conflict.

OUR AWESOME PRESIDENT IS NOT GETTING CREDIT BECAUSE TOO MANY PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD HAVE LOST THEIR COMPASSION FOR OTHER HUMAN BEINGS OTHER THAN THEMSELVES! THE PRESIDENT HASN’T!…:) GOD BLESS HIM AND HIS LEADERSHIP WHICH EXEMPLIFIES THE WAY REACTIONS IN THIS WORLD…SHOULD BE!

On this post there is a picture from the town hall that the President held with young people invited from all over the continent of Africa. I watched that town hall with such a sense of awe and have told everyone and anyone who will listen about it. I remember the point the President made about peaceful transfer of power and how important it was to change this pattern of leaders just getting entrenched and never leaving office. Then there is the pattern of setting up their offspring or relatives to take over instead of having an election. That town hall was one of my favorite Obama moments and that’s saying something since there are so many of those incredible moments in his Presidency. Sometimes I think we should just start playing these events back again to get ready for 2012. Its empowering.

In 2009, the Internal Revenue Service announced plans to unleash a new enforcement unit called the Global High Wealth Industry, the goal being to better investigate the complex finances of America’s wealthiest taxpayers.

They weren’t kidding.

Recently released IRS statistics indicate that the federal government increased their audits of America’s richest taxpayers — those with incomes above $10 million — by 75 percent last year. Nearly one in five — 18.5 percent — of America’s richest households dealt with an audit. In 2009, the Global High Wealth Industry’s first year of operation, the IRS audited only one in ten of America’s richest taxpayers.

Complex tax evasion has become an increasing problem in recent years, with popular strategies including conversion of income into capital gains and stashing cash in Swiss banks.

Audit rates also increased among some lower income brackets, but none so much. The second highest audit increase was among the second highest income bracket: those reporting incomes of $5M-$10M. They saw a 55 percent increase in their audit rate, totaling 11.6 percent. High, but much smaller than the increase experienced by the $10M-plus bracket.

Audits rate for those with incomes between $1-$75K remained largely the same.

Overall, the IRS increased the percentage of audits by about 11 percent from the year prior. That means 1.58 million tax returns — about 1.11 percent of all returns filed — were audited, costing the IRS about 53 cents per $100 collected — a 3 cent increase from 2009.

I remember how in 2004, a particular “progressive” site labeled itself the “reality based community.”

Reality is more than just technical facts. Reality takes into account the conditions that exist in the world. Reality acknowledges that you can’t do something just because you want to do it. Reality acknowledges that not everybody is going to agree with you, and unless those that don’t agree is a small minority, you have to work with those people to get some of what you want instead of none of what you want.

Reality is not what you make it but what is in actuality.

I can’t think of any politician or world leader more firmly planted in the reality of the world than our President. The fact that he is able to actually manuever the real turbulence of the world as it is and they can’t it part of what drives them crazy.

I think it matters where you look. If you look for the negative you find the negative. If you look for the positive you find positive. That is the basis for the BWD site to begin with—the positive about President Obama and the great things he has done.

I have seen numerous articles and videos on CNN and MSNBC plus other sites that have shown the “Thank You” message from the Libyan people and the one with the American flag proudly displayed.

I may catch some heat from the folks on this site (a site I love by the way) but I think it is important to not lower ourselves to the level of “us” vs “them” in order to be feel like we see the obvious and they don’t. That is dangerous ground that leads to judgment and labeling that is unfair and just as biased as those we accuse.

Remember, for BWD to report it, it most often posted somewhere else. And she has regular daily links to other sites spreading the word.

First, let me say that President Obama is already getting credit for what he did in regard to Libya – credit coming from the Libyan people and the world community. At home? Well, I think most fair minded citizens give him credit even if they do not see that reflected in their evening news. Congress? I would encourage all members of Congress to (a) become informed about the discussions the President actually had with members of Congress and previous Congressional demands for a response to the Libyan crisis and (b) try to understand why it has become imperative for this President to act with less interaction with a Congress that will predictably tie everything in knots and delay all requests coming from the President. This kind of obstructionism makes it impossible for any President to clear all actions with Congress when confronted with an emergency requiring immediate response. In the final analysis,however, I believe the lack of recognition stems from the radical departure of President Obama’s foreign policy from the familiar model of his predecessors.
Discredited, as it may be, and arguably the reason for worldwide opposition and even hatred, the old foreign policy characterized by the Bush administratiuon’s celebration of “shock and awe” and the emphasis on American military dominance is still the expectation of many. As one Republican Senator pointed out, the U.S. is now “just one of the boys”. What these politicians and pundits fail to appreciate is the emergence of America as a reliable partner seeking peace and democratic governance to serve all the world’s people and sharing the responsibility of keeping the peace and standing against tyranny with allies from all parts of the world. I, for one, welcome this new “Obama doctrine”. Great job, Mr. President! I am sure the rest of the country will eventually welcome it, too.

I learned that lesson during the 2008 campaign. When I watched the debates on C-Span I was able to absorb the candidates statements, process them and decide how I felt about what was said. If I flipped to any other station and had to listen to the “coverage” and commentary it was distracting, irritating and just not the same experience. Consequently, I learned how much better it was to just watch the event without the “talking heads”. I never ever watch that stuff any more.

So he complains about Libya getting help but not Darfur and then says we can’t help everyone?

yeah, ok Rev. whatever.

I seem to be hearing from the Left that we shouldn’t help anyone because we can’t help everyone. Well that’s not going to happen so these folks are going to have to sit and decide what criteria should a country meet before its okay with them that we intervene.

Let’s face it, they won’t even give him credit for being a natural born citizen. They aren’t going to give him credit for anything. The media just can’t handle this president. Racism, conservatism, beltway groupthink,controversy sells, need for attention…all are reasons behind it and it won’t go away for as long as he is president. But no matter how hard they try, he keeps on going on about his business and the people see around what they are trying to do. His approval ratings are very high when you look at the state of the economy. Unemployment is falling and the approval rating will continue to climb. Most people don’t actually listen to the news media opinion spouters very much. They just look at their own lives and think about whether things are better than they were or worse. For more and more people the answer is better. That leads to more trust in the president.

I’m not worried that the press won’t give him a break. It’s annoying and stupid but it just makes the press look bad, not the president. People have been cheering for the people driven uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. The press isn’t going to get them to say it’s a bad thing now just because they want to criticize the president. It’s just like the debates in 2008. The press would leap in to tell us how McCain won every debate. It wasn’t even close in their minds. But lo and behold, as soon as the polls started coming in they discovered that the people didn’t agree with them at all. Obama won every one in the minds of the public. And he still does that whenever he speaks to the American people. He’ll do it again tonight.

Good, maybe I will watch the BBC channel on direct tv! Cannot stand these A-holes on tv.
How many more times today, do we all have to hear, what will the President say, and what should he say? Good LORD!

First of all, I’d just like to note that the article linked was written by Tom Malinowski, who is the Washington director of Human Rights Watch. That gives it even more punch I think.

This is such an important point about what a Qadaffi victory would have meant:

Qaddafi’s victory—alongside Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s fall—would have signaled to other authoritarian governments from Syria to Saudi Arabia to China that if you negotiate with protesters you lose, but if you kill them you win.

That is what the vast majority do every time a president speaks. They watch the speech (usually muttering about the regular programming it is interrupting – smart move for the President to schedule this speech right before prime time begins) and then move on. They don’t stay to hear what the pundits have to say. They will watch the speech then turn to Dancing with the Stars. The pundits will be talking to no one but themselves for the most part.

Obama doesn’t get credit for anything. Haven’t you noticed? You know, you can fool some of the people some of time but not all of them all the time. (I hope) I think the
Republicans are hanging themselves by always being against the smartest President we ever had.

Darfur masacre happened under BUSH! But, I guess that is this president’s fault, too! And some of the PL just try to aggravate and get on your nerves, they know better. But, they are not only manipulative, but are button pushers! Hence, they must have unhappy lives!

David, to a large extent I agree with you. I’ve been reading msnbc a lot, and though some of their opinion articles are still eye-rolling, I’ve also been reading a lot of good articles about what’s going on. I’ve liked the al-jazeera english site as well. And as you said, if it wasn’t being reported by someone somewhere else we wouldn’t have the articles to link to. Sometimes it’s easy to get drawn into the same type of thinking that caused the left blogosphere to devolve so rapidly in the past five years. Right now I’m making a point to tune into “real life” people, and at this point places like the Gos just don’t register because they aren’t well-known to most dems in my area.

That’s what happens when “principles” outrank actual outcomes in people’s minds. It is the root of a lot of criticism on the left. We should have universal single payer healthcare is the principle, so anything that doesn’t reach that goal must be rejected regardless of how many people are hurt by that rejection. We should help all people who are being oppressed by their governments, so if we don’t help everyone all the time, we should not help anyone ever for fear of looking like hypocrites. To them it is better to watch people being slaughtered by their governments than to appear as hypocrites to some small minded people.

(Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and top lawmakers agreed on Sunday evening to a $132.5 billion budget that includes massive spending cuts and possibly 9,800 layoffs for state workers to bring some order to the cash-strapped state’s finances.

Yes them and the MSM, they never give creit to PBO for anything he has done so far.
Yes remember when the freaking oushed the war in IRAQ I i am surprise by the PL but not by the teabbagers. I am confident that the American people will see things different, so let’s stay calm and trust PBO.

That is good news. The world wide reactions to the speech will help to temper the American media reaction. They won’t be able to spin it all by themselves as they will have other credible outlets (like the BBC, AlJezeera) competing with them. I like this news!

MARCH 27, 2011
Forget 2010 Fla results; Fla very much in play in 2012
Get ready for another huge presidential battle in Florida. Despite the drubbing Democrats took in 2010, nobody is underestimating Barack Obama’s ability to take the state that Republicans need to capture the White House — or the difficulty he’ll have winning it again.

“Florida is always in play. Neither party can take Florida for granted, but Marco Rubio proved that our voters tend to be center-right and antideficit spending voters,” said Republican strategist Sally Bradshaw, a top adviser to Mitt Romney in 2008 and now an adviser to expected candidate Haley Barbour. “Obama’s going to have to roll up his sleeves if he wants to convince voters here to return him to the White House. Look at Charlie Crist. We’re not usually fooled twice.”

In 2008, Obama was the first Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter to win more than 50 percent of the vote in Florida.

He won America’s biggest battle­ground state by nearly 3 percentage points after launching the largest grass roots campaign Florida had ever witnessed, and outspending John McCain on TV ads roughly $36 million to $17 million. And that was in a national climate in which Obama was the candidate of change and longstanding GOP strongholds like Indiana and North Carolina went Democratic.

Winning Florida will take another herculean effort, and there’s every sign that Obama and the Democratic National Committee intend to undertake it. The campaign had a stunning 600 paid staffers in Florida on Election Day 2010, and 2012 on-the-ground organizing is likely to start a year earlier this time…

The four biggest-name Republicans believed to be considering presidential bids have all grown more unpopular over the past two years.

As Public Policy Polling’s Tom Jensen notes, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have all lost support among registered voters since PPP began polling their net favorable ratings in April 2009.

These candidates are just awful but the money that will be spent on their behalf to try and discredit President Obama by special interest groups will be in the BILLIONS so I refuse to take this election for granted. People were fooled last November so I put nothing past our electorate.

On Diane Rehm this morning some suggested that there wasnt going to be an atrocity. It was a nasty hour of Obama bashing of the subtle sort. Lots of concern there too. as in Im afraid that this civil war will go on and we cant afford it. LOL

“Washington – Leaders do not operate in a vacuum. When they make strategic adjustments, their opponents do too. President Obama has prompted just such a pivot by Republicans. They’re criticizing him not for the decisions he’s made but for the ones he hasn’t, and the ones he delayed. They are attacking him not as a liberal ideologue but as a man in full flight from any ideological definition. If they once said his plans were too big, they are now asking if he has any plans at all.”

“The immediate focus for the new GOP approach is the president’s extended deliberations over Libya, with criticism raining down from various points on the GOP spectrum.”

“And many conservative Republicans have joined left-of-center Democrats in asking why the president didn’t seek congressional authorization for the Libyan action….”

//

“But Republicans had started shifting their lines of attack against Obama before the controversy over Libya. They did so in response to Obama’s own moves since the 2010 election designed to place himself above partisan infighting in Congress and to cast him as a moderate, forward-looking, non-ideological voice trying to talk reason to politicians mired in the past’s unproductive bickering.”

//

“Obama 2.0 was on display in December when he gave in to Republicans on a two-year extension of former President George W. Bush’s tax cuts, including those for the wealthy, in exchange for other measures to stimulate the economy. The president’s advisers were gratified to see the resulting rise in his approval ratings.”

“As the new style took hold, Republicans and conservatives realized that they needed to pull the president down from his Olympian perch and turn his disengagement from Washington’s day-to-day struggles into a liability. Thus, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, in an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” early this month, insisted that his party is “prepared to do difficult things” to bring down the deficit, but that the president has been absent. “Where’s the president?” McConnell asked then. “Where is the leadership?”

“In the short term, Obama’s advisers can point to polls to argue that the president’s stand against Washington-style conflict is still benefiting him. A new survey released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center found that 47 percent of registered voters favor Obama’s re-election in 2012 while 37 percent prefer a Republican to win. The president’s personal favorability rating stood at a healthy 58 percent.”

I remember during the 2008 campaign when they would have the snap polls going on DURING the debates between PBO and McCain. You know, the ones with the blue and red lines on the screen with the continuous feedback from the viewers?

PBO would consistently score high during the debates and his line would stay high, then immediately after the debate, they would cut to the little room with the viewers who would say he won.

Then, they would cut to the pundits who declare McCain the victor and say he was sooo confident/decisive/clear/persuasive/whatever.

“The president of Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin came to California for Saturday’s rally, and though firefighters and law enforcement officials are exempt from the bill, Mahlon Mitchell said he came to support all workers and protect the rights of the middle class.”

“I think the future of unions are in trouble. They’re in danger. But this is not just about unions. This is about the middle class. It’s about a movement that the middle class has to stand up for themselves, because if we don’t stand up now, we’ll continue to have more attacks later,” said Mitchell.

I loved your post at so many levels. One aspect I keyed in on because it had crossed my mind is the change in expectation, what we expect from our leaders and what we expect from ourselves. So many focus on the acceptance of the push back, like the Tea Party, the rise of corporate muscle and the culture wars we thought were long gone. I see that but I also see a much more profound and enduring acceptance forming, because of our President, that our leaders will be competent, sincere and not coercive, inclusive and have a grace about them. I also find on this kind of blog people that I have searched for for a long time. We are finding each other, affirming each other, organizing with each other, informing each other, and that will raise a new expectation for us all of community and the family of man.

Excellent point. I enjoyed that particular town hall *immensely.* Also of note was POTUS imploring these young leaders to remain in their countries and help to usher in change while harnessing fantastic opportunities. Just a brilliant, brilliant man.

The WH might not have time to do it, but we can most certainly weave our own tapestry of videos, speeches, and events which underlie the groundswell of change taking place right now.

Because you have an entire press corps looking at the prospect of the most boring presidential campaign in their professional lives and if they don’t do something to make it a horserace they will spend 18 months following Haley Barbour around from church supper to goat roping contest and wont even get a book deal out of their reporters notes. The press is actually in a panic that they wont see a real race for president until 2016.

“There aren’t many members of Congress who have traveled extensively out of the country. In his delightful book, Fire-Breathing Liberal, Rep. Robert Wexler marvels at how many of his Republican colleagues seem to think not possessing a passport is a badge of honor!”

“Last weekend I spent some time with Rep. Barbara Lee who is no longer surprised when she talks with Republicans who haven’t been– and don’t want to be– outside of the U.S….”

//

“I was horrified to read in Wexler’s book about how Republican yahoos bragged about having never traveled abroad. In truth, they represent their constituents’ prejudices and fears very well. And circling back to Krugman, it helps explain easily manipulated antipathy, for example, for “socialized medicine,” especially of the Canadian variety, an antipathy that is ingrained all over the solid South.”

//

“But what struck me about the whole piece was the assumption that modern medicine in general is something only we lucky free-market Americans have, while in Europe they’re still using leeches or something. In other words, it’s part of the superiority complex you often encounter in U.S. politics; people just know that we’re the best, and won’t believe you when you tell them that actually they have the Internet, cell phones, and antibiotics in Europe too.”

David, I agree with you. This is one of the most admirable sites I’ve seen, but we know Obama is treated horribly, how to combat it with action items would be my suggestion. And for those that have been shared, thank you. A second appreciation of gratitude is for the links – this site misses nothing.

Wow; that is awesome news! Guys, this is why cynics in the media (including the new media megasites) are working *OVERTIME* to deflect and depress. People are waking up, people are standing up, and people are recognizing their power in terms of improving circumstances (those WI protests forced Walker to make several errors; the result may be that his unionbusting law won’t be enacted–that’s huge).

I personally refuse to allow a few loud voices to depress me or deflect attention away from this very positive period of massive change.

Autistic boy,12, with higher IQ than Einstein develops his own theory of relativity

DAILY MAIL: A 12-year-old child prodigy has astounded university professors after grappling with some of the most advanced concepts in mathematics.

Jacob Barnett has an IQ of 170 – higher than Albert Einstein – and is now so far advanced in his Indiana university studies that professors are lining him up for a PHD research role. The boy wonder, who taught himself calculus, algebra, geometry and trigonometry in a week, is now tutoring fellow college classmates after hours.

I listened to that Rehm show and gritted my teeth. There was woman on the panel, Phyllis (didn’t catch her last name). She was just lying through her teeth, and there was no pushback. She lied about there being boots on the ground in Libya.

And even when one other panelist tried to correct her about the US soldiers being search and recovery teams sent to get hold of the pilot who ejected, she just bamboozled her way back to asserting the lies. I was totally pissed off.

Fact is that Obama is not the only president to suffer without being recognized for anything. For example Harry S. Truman did many great things for civil rights albeit baby steps, yet people still grew to dislike him. Mind you my history isn’t the greatest but I he was a strong advocate for ways to help the American people and like Obama had to deal with more than a couple of wars himself.

Another president would be LBJ who arguably did much more for civil rights but still to this day people will only give him grudging credit for it.

I personally think that Obama will be remembered as one of our greatest presidents. It may not happen right now with how much things are messed up and all these wars. Indeed it seems like Obama can’t catch a break as one disaster after another hits. I think we as his supporters need to stand by him and give him credit where credit is due, point out all the things that he accomplished and will continue to accomplish to people.

Why? This is a recurring debate at this site, and a very civil debate at that.

I personally see a ton of value in positive energies, but I can’t really fault people for calling out chronic merchandisers and purveyors of the “POTUS sucks!” narrative like HuffPo, DailyFox, etc., either. I guess the challenge is to strike an appropriate balance.

I hear ya! I’m not the gnashing of teeth, moan and groan type either. I see the cup half full. The light at the end of the tunnel is not a train. Goodness will find light. Good does triumph over evil! Eventually :)

(zizi said) GN,
There is a classic essay by Terence Ranger titled “The Invention of Tradition in Colonial Africa” a chapter in a book by Ranger and Hobsbawm called The Invention of Tradition that details the mechanism for co-opting and creating “African traditions” from whole cloth especially in British colonies on the African continent. Here’s a link to get you a peek into the stuff:http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/65674/the_invention_of_tradition_edited_by.html?cat=38

Ditto for me. I’ve turned them off and turned them out. They are small potatoes and their opinions don’t interest me, especially the bleaters on the Unprofessional left. So, yes, silence, golden silence, for me as well.

I think another question we might ask ourselves is “Why do *we* need President Obama to get credit for stopping atrocities in Libya?”

Something tells me that the President himself doesn’t feel the need to get credit for how or why he acted the way he did. In the first place, he didn’t act alone or in a vacuum. There were many players in this action who all deserve credit for stopping an atrocity before it happened: The UNSC, NATO, Arab League, etc. all worked together to act. I suspect our President had a lot to do in bringing all the parties to consensus since he’s a consensus builder. He did have to be persuaded to use military intervention, but he wouldn’t have agreed to it if he didn’t see a real clear way that intervention would work.

Better yet, I think he saw a clear way this intervention would work into his larger plan of facilitating the tectonic shift of policy and way of doing business in the Middle East. There is a long game at play that we can only sketch in our minds based on what we’ve observed about our President. When we say he’s several steps ahead of Congress and the MSM, we do well to remember he’s also several steps ahead of us.

I’ve seen people here before observe that our President is more interested in results than accolades and atta-boys. I share this view. I think it’s premature to give President Obama credit for anything just yet as this plan of his is still in the early stages. Let’s all just work our bums off getting him re-elected so he can continue to work his magic. Let’s worry less about whether or not he is getting real-time credit for a plan that hasn’t fully unfolded.

I so utterly agree that POTUS doesn’t need the accolades on a personal level. So agreed. But the chronic dismissal of his achievements from both the right and lefty media risks confusing swing voting Indies. That’s my concern. I do agree that building up positive news alternatives and keeping the comments spaces balanced is a worthwhile endeavor.

Bwa-hahahaha. That’s the reason why all the undeserved spotlight on Bachmann and Pawlenty right now. Given the vitriol the press has helped dump on PBO these last two years they can’t believe no qualified Republican will run. They are going to have to slash ad rates at the major networks if this keeps up.

Same here, zizi. I was cussing at the radio. Then this woman said we had NO national security interests in Libya and not a single person pushed back or brought up the point that by supporting democratic movements over brutal dictators. we are removing a main recruiting point of extremists.

Well, for one thing, Independent swing voters don’t even know the lefty media exist, much less are swayed by their radical garbage, so I wouldn’t worry there.

I think we give way too much weight to what the media says about our President. My observation is that people are making up their own minds about our President. They see the economy recovering around them, even if housing is still a problem. They see that he said this action in Libya would be a matter of days and it was.

It’s pretty clear that no matter how the Republicans try to spin whatever the President says or does, the American public just plain likes the man and agree with his foreign policy. Have we forgotten already just how much impact his speech in Tucson was? Have we forgotten already that people really like his SOTU address? That they liked what happened during the Lame Duck session? At some point all these positive responses to his leadership begin to reach critical mass. My guess is that will happen long about November 2012 because our President is blessed with great timing.

” … it was, by any objective standard, the most rapid multinational military response to an impending human rights crisis in history, with broader international support than any of the humanitarian interventions of the 1990s.”

Some of the previous presidents who got “credit” were able to use smoke and mirrors and a measure of luck (not necessarily skill or by doing the right thing) to take that credit … in hindsight, we can see how it happened. Yes, I’m looking at you, too, President Clinton (sorry, folks, this may be just my opinion, but I can see things more clearly this far out from his presidency).

“The most generous conclusion one could draw about one’s opponents — that they are people of good will who have merely come to some mistaken conclusions for essentially benign reasons — can be awfully hard to sustain when you have to hear them express their awful beliefs day after day.”

“If you care about politics, you think policy positions matter to people’s lives, and that makes it even harder to think well of those who disagree with you. The choices we make about policy are freighted with practical and moral import. Some are truly complex and involve uncertain predictions about the future, but many involve a simple moral calculus.”

“For example, if I believe that the fact that there are more than 50 million Americans without health insurance is a moral outrage and you don’t, it means, in ways that are hardly trivial, that we are different kinds of people.”

//

“There are two key differences, however. First, the rage on the right was only slightly lower when Republicans held all the levers of government power. Even when George W. Bush was president and Republicans held both houses of Congress, one could go into any bookstore and find a dozen tomes about how liberals were destroying America.”

“Second, those making this argument on the right have vastly higher profiles and positions of greater influence within the party than those on the left saying something similar. They are officeholders, guests on television shows, and people with nationally syndicated radio programs.”

“In the early 1960s, Marshall McLuhan argued that modern media were creating a “global village” in which we would all share a common culture. Though he was right in some ways, tribalism remains as powerful a force as ever. We may all see the same movies, but we have more ways than ever of defining who counts as “us” and who counts as “them,” even as we hold on to the old standbys of nationality, race, and religion.”

“And one of the central arguments many conservatives make about liberals, and in particular about Barack Obama, is that they are not truly American (perhaps literally) or at the very least are in the grip of foreign ideas.”

Of course he *deserves* credit. He always does. I just hope that maybe we can rest easy about the American press not giving it to him in real time because he doesn’t require it himself and that he wants whatever credit given to be placed where it squarely belongs: with the International Community and the brave, brave rebels in Libya. He doesn’t want this to be all about him any more than he did with Wisconsin. It’s all about the people who are rising up and declaring themselves free from despots whether they are in the Middle East or the Mid-West.

How I love this site. The past 3 years have been difficult for many of us that continue to believe in our President. It is even more frustrating now that we have to push back on some in our own party. This is a very difficult and fragile time in the history of our earth. Many in the USA are short sighted, looking out for “me”. The rest of the world sees our President through a different lens; they see what we in America are blinded to. Americans don’t ask how something will affect “us”; they ask only how it will affect “me”. “We The People” has been transformed to “I The Person”. A generation ago we had media personalities we seemed to all trust. Walter Cronkite could speak and he generally spoke truth to power. He truly loved this country. We have no one like that anymore. That one person that both sides would listen to. That is the sad part, we are so divided. Our President does what he is called to do; he has long ago stopped listening to the chatter from the right and left. His intellect, wisdom, his ability to listen and his underlying character guide him. Our nation is screaming, calling one another names, have tantrums, acting like spoiled brats…then we have our President…The Only Adult In The Room. History will judge him to be one of our best Presidents during this historic period in our history. Let’s just be sure we have his back.

“In their attempts to understand Obama, the candidates again and again reach the conclusion that when Obama does or says something they like, he’s either shrewdly hiding his real intentions or has been cornered by political reality.”

“When he does or says something they don’t like, he has revealed his true self. So Romney can claim, without any supporting evidence, that “another of President Obama’s presuppositions is that America is in a state of inevitable decline,” just as Palin avers that Obama “seems to see nothing admirable in the American experience.”

“How do they know this? Well, they just do. None of the candidates provides any quotations in which Obama apologizes for America because he never actually has. And don’t bother bringing up the hundreds of speeches in which Obama has lavished praise on this country, because as Romney says, “President Obama is far too gifted a politician to say in plain words that America is merely one nation among many.” However, if we take some things Obama has said out of context and make a series of absurd leaps in logic to arrive at the worst possible interpretation of them, then we will learn the truth.”

//

“Every four years, we ask candidates to convince us that all our problems can be solved, to paint a picture of a glorious future to come if only we elect the right president. We push from our minds the knowledge of post-election disappointment, forgetting that folksy sayings and expressions of deeply held values don’t solve thorny policy challenges. The 2012 Republican candidates may put their ideas between the covers of a book, but it doesn’t make those ideas any more connected to the realities of governing.”

This is the part that’s sticking in the craws of the republicans, the PL, the frustrati, and their friends in the MSM:

” … it was, by any objective standard, the most rapid multinational military response to an impending human rights crisis in history, with broader international support than any of the humanitarian interventions of the 1990s.”

They just don’t like the idea of a man who is a member of one of America’s “less favored” groups beating the pants off of the previous presidents, all of whom have been members of America’s “most favored” group. PBO has been scoring well in his responses to emergencies here and abroad. FEMA has a 100% approval rating under PBO, and now this article, and others, put a stamp of approval on his decisions about “how” to handle the situation in Libya most effectively and most efficiently.

I think the fact that we recognize this divisiveness is a step in the right direction. Recognizing we have a problem is the first step to solving it. I’m seeing a shift in attitude among the ‘silent’ majority in the Democratic Party. They are waking up and starting to push back more and more against the radical factions who claim to be Democrats. Even here, yesterday, there was evidence of a mini-revolt with people saying they won’t contribute to specific candidates and certain parts of the party apparatus if this bash-fest isn’t stopped.

Instead of continuing to wring our hands about the problem, let’s look for solutions. I think using our pocketbooks is a viable step. We do have to address our radicals directly and stand up to them in greater numbers. Just like in Wisconsin when the Tea Party people tried to show up at the rallies and found themselves massively outnumbered and crawled back into their little holes. We need to continue this effort of banding together to out-rally our own troops in defense of our President.

I love Obama, but I am pretty skeptical about this Libya adventure. But, I don’t think he is a big fat imperialist asshole like Bush. Not sure how this will turn out, but I hope it is a short-lived intervention.

I just think it is offensive to be waging all of these expensive adventures in the Middle East and North Africa while wringing our hands over social programs and the national debt. WTF!? No one even breathes a word about cutting defense, as if that idea is as unthinkable as garroting the baby Jesus with a piano wire.

But that is not just a problem with Obama or the Repugs. This is a problem with America. We are way way way way off the rails. We HAVE become the Military Industrial Complex that Eisenhower warned us about.

I certainly take your points, and think that POTUS’ approval ratings are as high as they are because so many Americans just don’t trust the media. I don’t think that average swing voters spend time around the screaming headlines of the frustratus. The problem is that mainstream media hosts and publications do, and sometimes mistake their excesses for the thoughts of the base. This in turn creates a media narrative which spreads confusion.

I think that this is becoming less and less of a problem, as we continue to raise our voices and insist that a bunch of these blog divas, tv prima donnas, and sensationlists speak only for themselves.

One of the great secret truths to the mystery of life is that energy reacts to energy. Call it karma. Call it the Golden Rule. Call it Newton’s Third Law of Motion. Most people react in opposition to that with which they agree or disagree with a relatively equal amount of negativity or positivity. We simply must be aware and not devolve into it.

The trouble with the Professional Left is that is has become the opposite pendulum swing of the zealots on the Right. That, and the fact that they can make money and gain fame by being outrageous and taking a position of conflict. This is where the MSM is today. They can no longer just report (if they ever did), they have to create and concoct conflict. Of course, that has been going on a long time—think yellow journalism.

My post was merely a reminder not to get down in the mud with these people. It’s politics after all. And that is one messy bit of business.

Most of us on BWD know of the disingenuous nature of HuffPo and DKos. We don’t need to keep beating that drum. For good alternatives I use Alternet and RawStory.

I have one little problem with people who talk about the cost of our engagement in Libya, which will probably be rather small, from the looks of it. The argument is that that money could be spent of domestic programs to help the poor, etc. However, this makes the assumption that Congress would actually approve that spending, which, under the current situation, just isn’t going to happen.

And, as GN points out, both Obama and Gates have included some spending cuts in their budgets. Not enough to suit me, but it isn’t the sacred cow it used to be.

The overall argument of defense spending vs domestic spending is a legitimate one. But in terms of this specific situation, it isn’t as relevant.

No objection whatsoever with reporting it. That is an imperative. My caution is simply that we do not become what we oppose.

Sadly, there are days when I think nothing can be done to help the Democratic Party. They just seem inept and scared of the the playground bully—the GOP. Everyone knows that if you stand up to the bully they back down. But not the Dems. They fold seemingly every time.

So, I am in complete agreement with the principles of the BWD site. I loved her blog on DKos and bailed on that site after I witnessed her treatment over there. And the irrational fervor that people have because President Obama can’t wave a magic wand and give us all what we want.

The truth is he is the best president since FDR! And he will go down in history as one of the best ever.

So you don’t think we should have intervened in Lybia? You would have been ok with the slaughter of citizens? I am a peacenik, I hate war but I am glad the intervened! I truly believe Ghaddafi would have killed everyone he could.

The way I look at this whole thing is that, the people who matter the most, to my mind, are giving the president credit for helping to save the lives of their loved ones.

I think it was Tulips, who posted a link of a petition by Libyans thanking the president for intervening in this atrocity.

They, more than anyone else, know what the repercussions would have been if the allies did not intervene.

Secondly, others around the world are looking and they are grateful for what the president and the allies are doing. I for one know that many people in Liberia and Sierra Leone would have welcomed this kind of intervention when our people were being slaughtered.

While I know that we can’t expect the U.S. to police the world, the noise from people especially some on the left, exposed their hypocrisy. These are the same people who claim to fight for human rights, etc., but they have no problems opposing the intervention into what could have potentially been disastrous fo the Libyan people.

Or, better yet, they have shown that as long as the efforts are made by President Obama, then it is unacceptable.

That’s why I was aghast at Rachel Maddow for thinking that the howling coming from the left and right was some kind of coming together of people from all sides against defense costs.

Really? No, to my mind, it was because President Barack Hussein Obama had a hand in it.

These days, it seems that it is in vogue to oppose all things “Obama.”

So, I save myself the trouble and take whatever they say or do with a miniscule grain of salt.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. ~Abraham Lincoln

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

I too detest violence, but there are times when the character of the world is tested. The slaughter of people by their own government cannot be tolerated. What price are we as a nation a world community willing to pay?

I saw the report about the empty coffin. I also saw a report that said a later display of bodies supposedly killed by coalition bombings were actually the bodies of people Kaddafi’s forces had killed and brought to the site! As if the people of Libya wouldn’t know the difference!

Absolutely! That’s why if I can find the speech on cspan or some internet site I prefer to watch it there. I can form my own opinions, I don’t need political commentators to tell me what to think!

I often realize they don’t have as much political or historical knowledge as I do as a political news junkie! Without that history of political events, action and reaction it is difficult for them to have a realistic, evaluative perspective I think.

Darfur was also over an extended period, so someone was obviously “dithering” over that humanitarian crisis. Where were the concerned people then? How come we didn’t have personal attacks against the President at that time, and questions about his leadership? Since the people of Darfur are still suffering, where have these PL been all this time?

Either way, the professional complainers will have something to complain about. Do something – it’s not enough. Do nothing – how could you sit there and allow that to happen! They win both ways – they get soemthing to complain about.

If the President doesn’t start the drawdown in July, it will be because of adverse conditions on the ground – as he’s stated since the beginning. I’m sure he’ll be just as disappointed as you. But, I’d rather have a President who makes informed decisions, and does what’s right – rather than putting lives in danger simply to appear to keep a promise.

It’s amazing to me that New York, the home of Wall Street, mammoth bonuses and many of the country’s richest – needs to send 8500 state workers to the unemployment lines instead of raising taxes to cover their state deficit. When are the rich going to contribute to this country’s well-being? Aren’t these New Yorkers the same who got billions in bonuses the same year they got billions in bailout money?

The same Florida voters who voted not to overturn the class-size mandates that have cost the state billions. Floridians are willing to invest in education no matter what the crisis of the month is, that’s why Scott is on the hot-seat now (from both sides) over his budget.

If Congress is so concerned with the cost and use of the military, does that mean they are now prepared to cut the defense budget to a fraction – if they’re loathe to use the military, then why keep such a big arsenal?

President Obama will get credit for this great deed eventually but right now the “news” media is falling all over itself to find something wrong that they can blame on him. Same old, same old.

Of course, you can be damn sure if he hadn’t done anything the UNprofessional left would be screaming at the top of their lungs that he FAILED!! Of course when President Obama does do the right thing (which is pretty much ALWAYS) they completely ignore it. Same old, same old.

What really annoyed me, though, was the Congressional whining that the president didn’t “consult” them or get their “approval” for this humanitarian mission. He didn’t need to. With all do respect to Congressman Clyburn, I didn’t appreciate his complaining that the president only “informed” Congress of the mission in Libya, he didn’t “consult” with Congress about Libya. What does that even mean? Excuse me, but people were about to be slaughtered…So sorry Congress, that Mr. Obama didn’t have time to come and kiss all your butts first.

And don’t get me started on Dennis Kucinich. What an embarrassing little fool he is.

Anyway, I can’t wait to hear the president speak this evening. He will set everyone straight as usual.

I’m so grateful to President Obama for doing the right thing in Libya and for all the good work that he does. We got his back!! Screw the media.